My take on the many theatre productions I go and see during the course of the year.

Sandy Pritchard-Gordon

Theatre Blog

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

Absolute Hell at The Lyttleton

Whilst this
play, Absolute Hell, currently
playing at The Lyttleton can’t in any way be described as such, it isn’t
exactly an absolute joy either.A strangely
constructed drama by Rodney Ackland
and originally entitled The Pink Room, Absolute
Hell is set in a Soho Club during the final days of World War Two.With a cast of nearly forty, it has no real
plot.Instead the twenty main characters
drink, flirt, scheme and debate everything from national politics to religion
and most subjects in-between.

For the most
part their outlook is bleak, none more so than the chatelaine of the club,
Christine Foskett (Kate Fleetwood).
She tries subduing her disillusionment with life by imbibing large amounts of
alcohol and flirting outrageously with the customers, especially the American
Serviceman, Butch (Aaron Heffernan).
The other central character is Hugh Marriner (the always superb Charles Edwards).He plays a struggling gay writer and elements
of his life reflect the playwright’s personal experience.

One can see
why the original version of the play was damned, inhabited as it is by
homosexuals, bisexuals and promiscuity.Not the done thing in 1950’s Britain. All these topics are de rigeur in
2018 of course, but the play is still a difficult one to digest.Absolute Hell does have its moments, especially when
the humour shines through but designer Lizzie
Clachan’s set and Jon Clark’s
clever lighting take most of the honours. Her stage design brilliantly conjures up a dingy
and rather seedy 1940’s drinking club and it’s a great pity that the play doesn’t
sustain the initial excitement on first viewing the life about to enfold on
stage.

Unfortunately,
despite her efforts, Director Joe
Hill-Gibbon’s clever inclusion of having the cast periodically sing in
unison and excellent performances from the main characters, Absolute Hell doesn’t really work for
me. A rolling series of disjointed sketches by assorted characters isn’t a
great outline for a great play.